P&T stays with SIPA and take the first XFORM 350

Long-time SIPA customer P&T has confirmed its faith in the company, becoming the first PET preform producer in the world to take SIPA’s new XFORM 350 production system.

P&T, located in Floridia, not far from Syracuse in south-east Sicily, began its exclusive use of SIPA preform systems when it began operations in 2001. It now has three PPS units running. Looking to expand production late last year, it ordered the latest addition to SIPA’s line-up, which was installed this February. The XFORM 350, equipped with a 96-cavity mold – also from SIPA – is now producing 25.7-g preforms for two-liter water bottles at a rate of 40,000 preforms per hour. The preforms are designed with 26/22 necks for Bericap Hexalite caps.

Just like its well-established bigger brother, the XFORM 500, the new system stands out for its extremely low cost of maintenance, low energy consumption – thanks in part to a new all-electric toggle clamp unit – its ability to produce preforms with extremely low levels of acetaldehyde, the high quality of the preforms, and – when necessary – the low time it takes to change formats.

Lightweight preforms are a specialty of P&T, which supplies preforms to numerous companies bottling mineral water and soft drinks in the south of Italy. “P&T has been able to benefit from SIPA’s advanced technologies in preform production, as well as in our expertise in designing thinwall preforms,” says SIPA Area Manager Elio Ceschin.

“SIPA has been an excellent partner ever since we came together,” says Salvatore Calafiore, owner of P&T. “We are very happy with the high level of technical service, together with the assistance SIPA has supplied in preform development. We have also been able to benefit from the market knowledge that SIPA has been able to share with us.”